


Come Back To Me

by Snugglebuttkitten



Series: His Angel, Her Punk [2]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Jealous!Nathaniel, Lukanette, Multi, childhood friend au, jealous!Adrien
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-25
Updated: 2018-04-25
Packaged: 2019-04-27 18:19:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14431398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snugglebuttkitten/pseuds/Snugglebuttkitten
Summary: Five Years Ago, Marinette Dupain-Cheng said goodbye to childhood best friend and secret crush, Luka Couffaine. Now, eighteen years old and in the middle of her senior year of High School, Marinette has fully moved on with new friends and a new love interest. Or so she thought.Five Years Ago, Luka Couffaine left Paris, his mother, his sister, and his best friend behind to attend the same boarding school his father went to. Five years ago, he said goodbye to the one person who could make his heart song beat to a different tune.Now, Luka is back and he's determined to win back the heart of the girl he let go, all those years ago.





	Come Back To Me

**Author's Note:**

> Loosely inspired by the song "Come Back to Me" by David Cook.
> 
> The Aged Up Childhood Friend AU that no one asked for but I know you all secretly wanted ;)

Marinette Dupain-Cheng bounced down the hall of the houseboat, as comfortable as if she had lived there her whole life. In truth,  _ Liberty _ had been a part of her life for as long as the young girl could remember. The first time she had climbed aboard and walked these hallowed halls she had been a tiny four year old, blue-black hair tied back with sunshine yellow ribbons that matched the top of the dress she had been wearing. On that day, her front two teeth had been missing, her knees had been scraped raw and scabbed over from a recent fall out of a tree, and she had been absolutely petrified that she was going to fall overboard and drown. Looking back now, it seemed like such a silly concern. Sure, she hadn’t been wearing a life vest and up until that point she had only had two swimming lessons so far, but she had spent ninety percent of her time below deck in relative safety, far from the rails that she undoubtedly would have tripped over… or so her four-year-old self was convinced.

Four-year-old Marinette had been a bit paranoid. Now, nine years later, thirteen-year-old Marinette walked down the hall with confidence, a spring in her step as she moved. Pictures lined the walls of the hall, and she knew from seeing them countless times before that they mostly depicted the growth of three little girls and a gangly-limbed boy as they transitioned from cherub-faced children to attractive young adults. Or at least, one of them could be considered a young adult. Luka Couffaine, at sixteen, was only two years away from being a legal adult and although only three years separated them in age, often Marinette wondered if she would  _ ever _ reach adulthood. It was to Luka and Juleka’s bedroom that she was headed now. Although her friendship had started out with a powerful attachment to Rose Lavillant and Juleka Couffaine, in recent years Marinette had grown closer to the boy who had always treated her like a little sister.

If she were being completely honest, nine times out of ten, it was Luka that Marinette came to see. She paused outside his door, knocking briefly before letting herself in. Even after three years, the formality seemed so weird. Up until she was ten, Marinette had always just burst into the room as if she owned the place. After she had reached the double digits, and Luka had officially reached his teen years, Anarka Couffaine had insisted she knock before entering. Something about Luka entering adulthood? She hadn’t really understood at the time; she still didn’t, actually, but she respected Ms. Couffaine and certainly didn’t want to give her a reason to ban her from visiting. So she tried to comply with the rule whenever she remembered. The boy she was seeking was sitting at the computer desk he shared with his sister, eyes narrowed as he stared at the computer screen before him. He didn’t seem to have heard her knock.

He didn’t immediately notice her entrance and Marinette picked her way silently across the room, eyes twinkling with mirth until she stood right behind him. Dropping her hands on his shoulders abruptly, she barked out a sharp, “ _ BOO _ ” that very nearly scared the living daylights out of the unsuspecting boy. She was rewarded, however, when the most beautiful pair of ocean blue eyes shifted to glare at her accusingly.

“ _ Marinette _ , how many times have I told you not to scare me like that?” He chastised, twisting in the chair to face her fully. His face pulled into a grimace, lip quirking just enough so that she could detect the barest hint of metal from his braces. Normally around other people, Luka kept his lips firmly sealed and only spoke with small movements that didn’t require his mouth to open wide enough for his teeth to show. He was very self-conscious about his braces but the dark haired girl had always found them rather endearing… in a totally nerdy and dorky way.

Luka Couffaine, much like his sister, was tall and gangly. At sixteen, he was mostly arms and elbows that he hadn’t fully grown into and a lean, slightly muscular body that came from helping man  _ Liberty _ from the time he could walk. His shaggy black hair dropped well past the collar of his shirt, his bangs falling almost constantly into his beautiful eyes, and the tips were a vibrant purple that matched Jagged Stone’s color to a T. He had tried, on numerous occasions, to get Marinette to dye her hair as well but she remained adamant that if she did that, her parents would probably murder her. Smiling cheekily, the young girl gave a half-hearted shrug that greatly lacked in any form of sincerity whatsoever.

“Too many times to count. I did knock, though. It's not my fault you weren’t paying attention. What are you looking at?” She asked, leaning past him and jiggling the mouse to wake the computer screen back up. Before she could figure out what he was looking at, Luka had reached past her and hit the off switch.

“Nothing you need to concern yourself with,” he grumbled, shooting her an annoyed look. Unphased, the girl just smiled wickedly.

“Why Luka, are you looking at  _ inappropriate sites _ again?” She quipped, rewarded when the older boy’s face turned a deep shade of crimson that reached even the tips of his ears. His eyes widened comically in shock as he stared at her and she fell back onto his bed, cackling loudly.

“Mari! That- That isn’t even remotely funny!” Luka growled, glaring at her as she giggled shamelessly.

“Little funny,” she quipped, holding up a hand and moving her thumb and pointer finger so they were less than an inch apart.

“You’re too young to even know what inappropriate sites  _ are _ ,  _ petit ange _ ,” he scolded, rising from the chair and crossing to the bed with a mock scowl on his face. She just smiled cheekily up at him until he made a vague gesture for her to move over. Rolling to the side, she rested her head on one of the pillows, watching as he laid down beside her. Luka didn’t immediately look over at her. Instead, he laid on his back, hands folded over his stomach where the black nail polish stood out starkly against his lightly tanned skin and stared at the ceiling. She took a moment to study her friend, concern filling her gaze. 

Marinette had known Luka most of her life and she was acutely aware that his body language wasn’t as relaxed as it usually was in her presence. He didn’t look uncomfortable, per se… it was more like something was weighing heavily on his mind. Like he was troubled by something. There was a tightness in his jaw; a hardness in his eyes not usually associated with easy going Lukas Couffaine that she knew so well. Rolling onto her side, the ravenette propped her head up on one hand, staring down into the face of her best friend until his eyes finally flickered up to meet hers.

“Hey,” she said softly. One side of his mouth quirked up into that famous half smile of his, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes.

“Hey yourself,” he returned, equally quiet.

“Are you okay?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Juleka said you skipped school again,” she admitted, frowning slightly when his face seemed to darken, almost like a shutter was coming down over his blue eyes. It was as if he were mentally pulling away from her, which wasn’t something she was accustomed too. Luka had always been completely open with her and to see him trying to hide his thoughts now bothered her a great deal.

“Juleka needs to mind her own business,” he mumbled.

“Luka,” Marinette’s voice was soft, hesitant. There was no accusation in her tone, just the gentle concern that was always there when something was bothering her friend. Sighing, the boy rolled to face her, propping his head upon his own hand as he stared at her with his fathomless ocean eyes.

“It’s nothing you need to worry about,  _ mon petit ange _ ,” he promised, reaching out to brush aside a lock of hair that had fallen into her face. Marinette’s face warmed and she dropped her eyes, hating the bashful feelings rising within her. Luka Couffaine was her best friend and she didn’t want to ruin their friendship by developing a crush on him. He was three years older than her; almost an adult and besides, he only ever saw her as a little sister.

“I wish you wouldn’t call me that,” she mumbled, flicking her gaze up briefly before dropping it again. “It’s such a babyish nickname and Juleka still makes fun of me for it.”

“Who cares what Juleka thinks? I can’t help it if you were sent from above to grace me with your presence,” Luka teased, bopping her lightly on the nose before rolling away and hopping up before she could retaliate.

“You’re a dork,” Marinette giggled, sitting up.

“A charming dork,” Luka retorted, offering her a hand to help her off the bed. “Want to listen to me practice with the band, tonight? I think Rose and Juleka are going to see that new chick flick that came out last week if you’d rather go with them.”

“What do you prefer?” Marinette asked coyly, accepting his hand and climbing carefully off the bed. Luka grinned down at her, not immediately releasing her hand.

“You’re my lucky charm, kid. You know I always prefer to keep you close by,” he teased, finally releasing her hand although he didn’t immediately step back.

“I feel so used,” the girl sighed dramatically, pressing the back of her free hand to her forehead. The boy chuckled, amused, as he finally moved away to grab the guitar case leaning up against the wall. He gestured for her to precede him, and she bounced out of the room and back the way she came, chattering amicably with her friend as they made their way up to the upper deck. Anarka Couffaine waved briefly from where she lounged near the wheel and the duo was quick to wave back as they stepped onto the dock and headed for the Motorcycle parked alongside the Seine. Luka handed her the sparkly pink helmet they had gone to pick out together months ago when he had just gotten his license and his mother had finally gifted him his father’s old bike. 

The motorcycle had been sitting in storage for years, unused until Luka had pulled it out and started fixing it up. His mother had been adamant about not allowing him to ride it until he had his license, and it had taken several more months to convince his mother and her parents to allow her to ride with him. Although Marinette had reservations on the safety of motorcycles, she couldn’t deny the thrill she got from riding on the back of the black and silver bike, arms wrapped securely around the lithe boy beside her. When Luka swung on, pulling his own generic black helmet on as he settled in the seat, she didn’t hesitate to swing on behind him, her arms encircling his waist as the bike roared to life.

  
  


The rest of the week was relatively uneventful. When she wasn’t at school or helping out in the bakery, Marinette spent time with Luka. Usually, the older boy was busy practicing his guitar and Marinette would spend hours curled up on his bed, back against the wall and sketchbook on her knees. In these instances, she usually sketched new designs or tweaked old ones, occasionally commenting absentmindedly on whatever song the boy was working on. It was comfortable. Normally during these times, Juleka and Rose would often join them, working on homework or talking quietly while Marinette and Luka worked on their respective hobbies but that week, the two girls were noticeably absent. It could have just been chalked up to the girls wanting to spend time by themselves, but it didn’t take long before Marinette noticed that both girls were avoiding her at school as well.

Whenever she moved to approach one or both of them, often they would turn abruptly and scurry off in the opposite direction. She had other friends, of course. Nathaniel Kurtzberg and Nino Lahiffe, two boys she had attended school with since the second grade, were always happy to eat lunch or make idle chatter with her-although Nathaniel tended to stammer quite a bit due to his shyness. Chloe Bourgeois was always happy to complain to Marinette about anything and everything when given the chance. The Queen Bee of the school, Chloe often liked to go on and on about her best friend who also happened to be a model. She seemed a bit possessive of the boy, and the fact that Marinette had absolutely no interest in him seemed to have made the blonde take an instant liking to her. Maybe she didn’t see her as a threat due to her lack of interest? Either way, the two weren’t exactly friends but they were civil with each other and without Rose and Juleka keeping her company, the few days Marinette didn’t eat lunch at home or with Luka were spent with Chloe at her father’s hotel.

Luka continued to skip school which bothered Marinette greatly. It bothered her, even more, when she realized his mother seemed completely fine with it. Two weeks ago, Anarka Couffaine would have had her son’s head if he so much as skipped PE and now she was allowing him to skip days on end. It was Saturday when she finally decided enough was enough. She was on  _ Liberty _ once again, laying on Luka’s bed with a Geometry book spread out before her, but her eyes weren’t on the text. They were on Luka and they had been for the past ten minutes. In that time, Luka had only stared blankly at the cellphone in his hand. His brow was furrowed, ocean blue eyes narrowed in annoyance as he worried his bottom lip between his teeth. Occasionally, he would unlock his phone and start a text, only to delete it once again with a sigh of frustration.

“Luka,” she finally said, causing the boy in question to jump in surprise before shooting her a guilty look. Her own brow furrowed. What did Luka have to be guilty about?

“Yeah?” He asked, feigning nonchalance as he turned his desk chair to face her.

“Who are you texting?” She asked, dropping her pencil and sitting up to look at him. Luka visibly stiffened, shooting a brief glance at the phone in his hand before shoving it into his pocket and smiling innocently.

“No one; have you finished your Geometry homework? I can take a look if you want,” he offered, holding a hand out for her notebook. She gave him a disapproving look.

“You’re lying. And if you’re going to change the subject, at least make it believable. You suck at math,” she scoffed, crossing her arms and leveling an annoyed look at the boy. He shifted uncomfortably, his gaze avoiding hers.

“I’m not lying, Mare-Bear. I’m not texting anyone. And I’m not  _ that _ bad at math. I think I can handle Geometry,” he insisted, curling in fingers in a  _ ‘gimme gimme _ ’ fashion. She arched a brow, unconvinced.

“When you finished Algebra I last year, you  _ burned _ the book. Your mom had to pay the school to buy another one. The book didn’t even  _ belong _ to you, Luka, and you  _ murdered _ it,” she stressed, amusement dancing in her blue eyes.

“Math deserves to be murdered. Now, give me your notebook so I can check your work,” he said, a grin crossing his face.

“After you tell me who you were trying to text,” she retorted.

“Marinette-”

“I mean it, Luka, you-”

“Marinette,  _ drop it _ ,” Luka glared at her, annoyance crossing his face. Marinette glared right back.

“Does this have something to do with why Juleka and Rose are avoiding me?” The girl suddenly blurted out. Silence fell heavy over the room as the two stared at each other, neither quite knowing what to say. After what felt like hours, but in reality was just a few brief seconds, Luka spoke.

“They aren’t avoiding you, kid…”

“They  _ are _ , Luka, and you know why! There’s something you guys aren’t telling me,” The pigtailed girl finally snapped, voice seeming to bounce and echo off the walls around her. Across from her, Luka was quiet. He wouldn’t even look at her, instead staring hard at his sneakered feet until the tension in the room could have been cut with a butter knife. The girl groaned, frustrated and hurt and angry, before rising abruptly. Startled by her sudden movement, Luka watched blankly as she roughly shoved her Geometry book and notebook into her bag. The pencil fell off the bed and rolled out of sight, and she briefly considered looking for it because it was her favorite. A soft, baby pink in color with gray rabbit figures dotting the painted wood. But she was too hurt and angry to dwell longer than necessary. Luka didn’t seem to realize she was leaving until she was almost to the door.

“Wait, where are you going?” He asked, confusion heavy in his voice.

“Home,” she snapped, not stopping.

“But… but you always stay until curfew… it’s barely two in the afternoon,” he pointed out, sounding unsure of himself. Marinette paused briefly, turning to glare at him over her shoulder.

“I don’t like being lied to. You’re hiding something, Luka. You, and Rose, and Juleka. You’re all hiding something from me and I don’t like it. I’ll talk to you later,” she turned and had her hand on the door when Luka seemed to materialize beside her, placing his hand gently over the one clutching the doorknob. She hadn’t even heard him move.

“Wait- Wait, Mari, don’t leave. Please? Don’t go yet,” he pleaded softly, ocean blue eyes wide with desperation. Marinette could feel her resolve begin to crumble. She had never been very good at telling Luka ‘no’.

“Tell me the truth,” she whispered, looking up at him imploringly. He grimaced but nodded, beckoning for her to join him as he moved to the bed. They sat beside each other on the edge, knees brushing, and when Luka picked up one of her hands in his and laced their fingers, she didn’t protest. He seemed to be struggling to find the words he wanted to say, and several times he opened and closed his mouth as if the words were there, on the tip of his tongue, only to evade him the moment he grasped at them. She didn’t push him to speak. She waited patiently, watching as his thumb traced gentle circles against the back of her hand. Finally, he spoke and when he did it was in a strained whisper.

“I’m moving,” he admitted. She blinked once… twice… three times before she was able to dislodge the sudden lump in her throat enough to speak.

“Like… across Paris? Is your mom selling  _ Liberty _ or something?” She asked hopefully. Losing  _ Liberty _ , which had become like a second home to her, would be painful but it would be nothing compared to losing Luka. He was already shaking his head, dashing whatever hopes she might have had.

“I- you know how I told you my father was a famous singer?” He asked tentatively. She nodded mutely. Luka had told her that ages ago, but despite how many times she had asked, he had never admitted who his father was. There were no pictures of a potential father figure, and Anarka never spoke of him. Luka’s mysterious father had chosen to continue his path as a musician rather than stay with the family. As far as she had known, Luka and Juleka hadn’t spoken to him in years though. “Well… he found out that I’m in a band and he actually asked me to send him some of my music… he says I have talent,” he said quietly.

“Of course you’re talented, Luka. I could have told you that,” Marinette pointed out, but there was no heat to her words. If anything, she sounded subdued.

“I know but… it was different coming from him, you know? I know I should be angry with him for abandoning mom, Jules, and me but I  _ can’t _ . I can’t hate him, Mari. I  _ want _ to make him proud, you know?” He explained, begging her with his eyes to understand. She didn’t understand. Not at all. But she wasn’t going to tell Luka that; she couldn’t bear to see the hurt in his beautiful eyes. Instead, she nodded slowly.

“What does that have to do with you moving? I thought you said your dad is famous in France,” she pointed out. Luka’s shoulders seemed to sag and he was quiet for so long, she wondered if he was actually going to answer. Finally, he glanced back up at her.

“My dad thinks I would benefit from professional training. He- he wants me to go to the boarding school that he was taught at. He offered to pay all the tuition and boarding costs,” he explained.’

“Where is it?” She asked quietly. He grimaced visibly.

“California,” he admitted. Marinette’s eyes widened in shock.

“Luka, that’s not even in the same  _ country _ !” She said, voice jumping up several octaves. The dark-haired boy nodded slowly in agreement.

“I know,” he whispered.

“How long would you be gone?” She asked, worry clear on her face. He grimaced, clearly hesitating at telling her but finally he sighed.

“Five or six years, give or take? I mean, I would come and visit, of course. And we could talk every day… I know your parents think you’re too young to get a cell phone until you’re fifteen but maybe we can change their mind? And if not well… I’ll get a job and I’ll buy you a phone so we can text all the time. It will be like I’m not even gone,” he offered, trying and failing at sounding optimistic. Marinette’s lip quivered, eyes watering as she pulled her hand from his.

“But you  _ will _ be gone, Luka. You’re going to be so far away we’ll be in different  _ time zones _ ,” she whispered, wringing her hands anxiously as she tried to hold back her tears. Luka had been in her life since she was four and quite honestly, she wasn’t even sure how she had functioned before meeting him. He was her perfect other half, her best friend. She might even go so far as to call him her soulmate and now he was just  _ leaving _ .

“It’s such a great opportunity, Marinette. I would get to learn from  _ real _ musicians,” he insisted, gaze pleading for her to understand. She looked away, face reddening with the effort of holding back her emotions.

“When… when do you leave?” She finally choked out, her voice shaking.

“In a week.”

“You waited all this time to tell me you were leaving?”

“I didn’t want to hurt you,” Luka confessed.

“You did hurt me, Luka,” she growled, rising abruptly and turning away. “You hurt me by lying to me; by  _ keeping _ this from me. I deserved to know!”

“I know, Mari. I’m sorry. I just- where are you going?” Luka frowned, rising to follow her.

“I want to go home, Luka. I can’t- I can’t look at you right now,” she mumbled, striding quickly to the door. She was halfway across the room when Luka spoke up again, his voice strained but firm.

“If you ask me to stay… I won’t go,” he said. She paused, not daring to turn around to look at him. If she did, she was certain she would burst into tears.

“What?” She asked quietly.

“Tell me to stay, Marinette. If you tell me to stay, I won’t go. I’ll stay here, with you. But you have to ask me to stay,” Luka approached slowly, laying a hand cautiously on her shoulder. She still didn’t turn around.

“You can’t ask that of me, Luka,” she said firmly.

“Please, Marinette… I would stay for you. In a heartbeat. You’re my best friend,” he whispered, carefully tugging until she turned to face him. Marinette looked up, taking in the pale and strained face of her best friend. His blue eyes were wide and vulnerable, begging her to say the words. If she asked him too, Luka really would stay. She meant that much to him and it was a startling realization. More than that, he was scared to go. He wanted a reason to stay and yet… she knew Luka. If he stayed now, he would regret it for the rest of his life. He would always wonder what would have happened if he had gone. Asking him to stay would be selfish, and eventually, he would grow to resent her.

“I want you to go, Luka,” she said firmly, watching as his eyes widened in shock. The burning sensation in her eyes grew, but she carefully tamped it down. She would cry later, in the safety of her bedroom. Right now, she had to be the strong one.

“But-” He began, but she was quick to shake her head stubbornly. She couldn’t let him convince her. She wouldn’t do that to him.

“Go, Luka. I’ll be here when you get back. Besides, when you become a famous singer, I want to be able to say that I knew you back when you were convinced cats were soul-sucking demons bent on world domination,” she teased weakly. He wrinkled his nose.

“They  _ are _ soul-sucking demons and they  _ will _ take over the world one day,” Luka insisted, his hatred of cats evident on his face. She laughed softly, the sound weaker than it usually was, and reached up to touch his cheek affectionately. At sixteen, Luka was over a head taller than her but for once she didn’t allow that fact to bother her.

“ _ Go _ ,” she said firmly, eyes narrowing slightly. “Go, and come back to me when you’re ready.”

  
  


The day Luka Couffaine left, Marinette felt numb. When asked, she immediately agreed to accompany the Couffaine family to the closest Airport. Luka’s father was already in America (they still wouldn’t tell her who he was) and was meeting him at the airport when he landed. She got permission from her parents to take the day off school since it was a Tuesday and spent the day laying on his bed watching him rush around the room and pack last minute items that he had forgotten. She didn’t speak much, too afraid that if she did she would burst into tears. Instead, she listened with half an ear as Luka talked animatedly about California, the school, and everything he hoped to do and learn while living there. He made her promise to make sure Juleka didn’t touch his motorcycle, which he was reluctantly leaving behind.

The trip to the airport was just as filled with animated chatter from Luka and awkward silence from Marinette. She could feel Juleka and Anarka’s gazes on her, but she refused to look at either of them and when Anarka quietly asked if she was okay when she stepped out of the car, she just mumbled assurances and hurried to catch up with her friend. Luka held her hand tightly as he all but dragged her through the massive airport towards the security gates. At this time of day, the airport was quite busy and he claimed he didn’t want her to get lost or separated from the group. It was obviously another one of his digs at her height but for once she let it slide. When they finally arrived at Security, Luka released her to bid goodbye to his mother and sister. There were a lot of hugs, a lot of quiet tears, but their smiles were wide and proud when they looked upon the sixteen-year-old.

Eventually, they said their final goodbyes and left, promising to meet Marinette near the entrance when she was done. They didn’t have much time, and Marinette knew she ought to say something, but standing there with Luka she suddenly felt incredibly awkward and out of place. The boy in question didn’t look much better, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly and shifting from foot to foot. Finally, he settled for opening his arms. Marinette didn’t hesitate, walking into his embrace and wrapping her arms securely around his waist. They didn’t speak at first. They just stood there, squeezing the life out of one another in a too tight embrace that neither would have changed for the world, trying to convey their feelings through touch alone. When they parted, Marinette had silent tears streaming down her face and Luka’s eyes were watering, although if asked he would adamantly insist that it was just allergies.

“I’ll miss you, kid,” he finally murmured, breaking the silence as he reached out and deftly wiped away her tears.

“I’ll miss you, too,” she sniffled, fighting back a fresh wave of tears as she pulled a package from her purse. “This is for you… so you’ll always remember me,” she mumbled, clearly embarrassed.

Luka grinned as he accepted the gift. “I could never forget you,  _ mon petit ange _ ,” he assured confidently, tearing carefully into the pale blue wrapping paper. She shifted uncomfortably.

“I wish you would stop calling me that,” she muttered before gesturing towards the gift in his hands. “It isn’t very good and if you hide it in the very back of your closet where no one ever has to see it, I will totally understand.” The gift was a scarf she had knitted. Although she was quite adept at sewing at this point, Marinette had only just taken up knitting and wasn’t especially good at it yet so the scarf was fairly mediocre at best, but Luka grinned widely as he inspected the deep, burgundy yarn. She had spent months saving up her meager allowance and the little money she earned helping in the bakery to buy a special yarn that was similar to cashmere so, at the very least, the scarf would be soft and warm.

“I love it; I’ll wear it every day,” he promised. She wrinkled her nose, smiling affectionately.

“Isn’t it really hot in California though? I mean, now that I think about it, it was kind of silly giving you a scarf but it was originally supposed to be your Christmas present and we won’t see each other for Christmas so I just thought-” She broke off as Luka’s hand landed on her head, an affectionate grin crossing his face.

“You’re babbling again. Don’t worry about the weather. Any gift from you will always be perfect in my eyes… no matter how shoddy the craftsmanship,” he teased, eyes twinkling as she huffed indignantly. Digging into his own pocket, he produced a small box and held it out to her. “For you. It isn’t much but… well, I hope you won’t forget about me, either, Mari.”

Touched, Marinette took the box and pulled the top off. The first thing she saw was a small, old-fashioned flip phone. The thing was so old, it didn’t even have a touchscreen but she was touched nonetheless. Moving the phone, she saw something beneath it wrapped in baby pink tissue paper. The phone would have been more than enough and normally she would protest Luka spending so much on her, but when she unearthed the charm bracelet her breath caught and her eyes widened. The chain itself was simple silver. There were only a few charms and plenty of space for more. There was a tiny replica of the Eiffel Tower, a small cat figurine that had been painstakingly painted black (Luka’s hatred aside, she happened to love cats, especially the black ones), and at the center was a small heart-shaped pendant that turned out to be a locket.

When opened, one side of the heart showed a picture of Luka and Marinette, faces squished together as they grinned widely at the camera, tongues sticking out, noses wrinkled, and eyes crossed goofily. It was her favorite image of the two of them. The other half of the locket was engraved with the words  _ “Pour Toujours Mon Petit Ange” _ which translated to  _ “forever my little angel” _ . It was a cute, personal touch and she could feel the tears springing back into her eyes as she grinned up at him. Luka, who had been fidgeting nervously as she stared at the bracelet, visibly relaxed.

“I love it, Luka,” she whispered, holding out her wrist when he took the bracelet and secured it carefully to her wrist.

“I’m glad. Now, I have to go but I have one more thing for you,” he said, grinning as he fished around in his other pocket.

“What? No, Luka, the phone and bracelet must have cost a fortune already!” She protested, eyes wide with worry.

“I promise, I didn’t buy this one. I made it,” he assured, holding out his hand and uncurling his fingers. Sitting in his palm was a small red string covered in beads of various shapes and colors. The center one was the biggest, a green square with a flower engraved on the surface. Above that sat tiny yellow and black beads, followed by a bigger barrel-shaped pink bead. Below it, a baby blue bead, followed by a tiny red bead and another pink barrel shaped one. She glanced up, curious, and he smiled sheepishly. “It’s a Lucky Charm… Juleka and I made them when we were kids before I met you. I think I was only four and Juleka was one. Technically, I made hers, too. But anyway, I want you to have this,” he said.

“Luka, I can’t take that,” the girl protested, wide-eyed. Smiling, the dark-haired boy took her hand and turned it over, placing the charm on her palm and manually curling her fingers over it.

“I want you to have it, Mare. If you must, you can give it back to me when I come home just… I’d rather know you were holding onto it for me,” he murmured. Marinette was speechless as Luka stepped forward, leaning down to press a chaste kiss to her forehead before bidding her goodbye and bolting off to catch his flight. She stared at the charm in her hand, touched that he would entrust something so important to him with her for safe-keeping until someone jostled her sharply and brought her back to the here and now. Smiling fondly, she curled her hand tightly around the charm. She hadn’t gotten a chance to actually say goodbye to Luka, but she silently vowed that she would keep his charm safe until he returned to Paris.

  
  


The next year passed uneventfully. Getting over Luka’s departure was extremely hard, made more difficult by the pitying looks she received from her classmates. Everyone who knew her knew that she was lost without her best friend and it took some getting used to not to see the boy with the purple stained hair casually taunting the pigtailed girl each day after class. Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months, and Marinette talked to Luka every chance she could get. The time difference was quite difficult to overcome. France was roughly eight or so hours ahead of California and it made correspondence difficult but somehow, they made it work to the best of their ability. That first summer was by far the worst. Rose and Juleka did their best to get Marinette out of the house with them, but nine times out of ten their efforts were fruitless.

Chloe had a bit more success, more because she wouldn’t take no for an answer, but when Marinette got up on the wrong side of the bed one day, she snapped at Chloe and whatever fragile friendship they were trying to form seemed to crumble. The following school year, Marinette was deadset on keeping to herself and just getting through each day without fleeing to the bathroom to cry. She still talked to Luka whenever possible, but his correspondences were shorter and further in between due to juggling his schoolwork and the hours of work he had to put in perfecting his technique on the guitar. The first day of school, those plans were naturally foiled by Chloe Bourgeois. Apparently, the girl could hold a grudge and had made it her personal mission to make Marinette pay for rejecting her friendship. When Marinette slid into her normal seat, she was promptly kicked out alongside her table mate because Chloe’s childhood best friend was finally attending public school.

In the end, the best friend didn’t show and Marinette struck up a fragile friendship with her new tablemate, a girl named Alya Cesaire who had just moved there from America. That night, Luka got a bit of free time from practice and when she explained her predicament insisted she stand up for herself against Chloe. Marinette was a bit hesitant; she didn’t like confrontation. Still, she told him she would think about it and returned to school the next day with a genuine smile, eager to explore a potential friendship with Alya. Imagine her surprise when she discovered a strange blonde boy putting gum on her seat. Marinette had never felt so angry and snapped at the boy in displeasure. It made sense when he was revealed to be the best friend that Chloe had spoke of so fondly during their childhood.

When she told Luka the next night, he suggested that perhaps she had jumped to conclusions too fast but she was adamant that Adrien Agreste was guilty and he wasn’t keen on arguing with her so the subject was dropped. The next day, Marinette continued to ignore Adrien despite his attempts at befriending her. It was after school when the skies had finally decided to open up after a day filled with ominously gray clouds, that Adrien finally caught up to her. Although she was hesitant at trusting him, she listened as he explained how Chloe had been the one to place the gum on the seat and how he had only been trying to remove it. When he explained how he had been homeschooled and that this was his first time in a public school, she was fairly certain she understood where he was coming from and was quick to forgive him.

When Adrien offered her his umbrella, despite the pouring rain, she was rightfully startled. She looked into his luminous green eyes, so bright against their dreary gray surroundings as the proffered umbrella hung between them. She was hesitant to take it, and when she finally did the stupid device immediately snapped shut over her head like a venus fly trap. But they both laughed good-naturedly, and when he bid her goodbye she stuttered out a butchered response. That day, something shifted in her and suddenly, it wasn’t Luka’s image that had her blushing. It was Adrien, with his warm smile and kind eyes.

In the years that followed, Marinette and Adrien became close friends. That first year of knowing him, she had stuttered terribly whenever he so much as looked her way and truth be told, her crush only seemed to grow as the days slipped by. Her friendship with Alya blossomed and soon, she was happily referring to the girl as her best friend. She still missed Luka, still talked to him whenever possible, but he was no longer the focal point in her universe. That first year was filled with humorous shenanigans as she tried to capture Adrien’s attention. There was the birthday disaster where she tried to gift him a beautiful baby blue scarf made of genuine cashmere (she had since perfected her knitting) that ended up in her not signing the present and him thinking it was from his dad… honestly, the boy looked so happy she couldn’t bear to ruin it for him.

There was the time she tried confessing her feelings to him in a poem, answering one he had written and trashed. She forgot to sign it and in the end, it turned out he was writing the poem for his best friend, Nino, to give to  _ her _ . That, of course, led to the disastrous date he set up between her and Nino. She wasn’t even aware it was a date until halfway through, and it ended when the new panther somehow escaped and Nino and Alya somehow ended up trapped in the enclosure together. That one actually ended okay though, since it made the pair discover their feelings for each other and they had been on several dates since. The worst was when she accidentally left him a voicemail detailing every horrifying detail of her crush on him, and in which she referred to him as ‘hot stuff’, which of course prompted her to steal his phone in order to delete the message before he could listen to it.

For some reason, Marinette was reluctant to tell Luka anything about Adrien. She mentioned him, of course, but when she did she glossed over the details and made him just seem like part of her friend group much like Alya and Nino. Perhaps a part of her still harbored feelings for him, and she was simply reluctant to tarnish any chance of them ending up together. About halfway through their first year, Marinette ended up getting paired with Adrien during an Ultimate Mecha Strike III competition and in the midst of everything, she ended up giving him her Lucky Charm. The same one Luka had given  _ her _ . When Luka visited later that year, she lied and said her backpack had been stolen, and she had kept the charm tied to the zipper. Luka was disappointed, but he was understanding and that made her feel even worse. After all, she hated liars with a passion and now she was turning into one.

The months eventually bled into years and Marinette’s awkwardness around Adrien began to fade. It wasn’t that her crush had diminished; she was still completely infatuated with him. But with Alya and Nino finally becoming an official couple, the two often found themselves hanging out together and playing video games while their friends went on dates. She became comfortable with him, and she began to treasure the time they spent together. Eventually, their friendship evolved to best friend status, and the pair often had study dates or just hung out in the afternoon when Nino and Alya were busy doing couple stuff. They became regular fixtures at each other’s houses, were nearly inseparable at school, and when people referred to one of them, their names were almost always paired together. They were a duo and Chloe absolutely hated that fact.

Luka didn’t seem to like it either. He had been totally fine the first time she referred to Alya as her best friend, stubbornly proclaiming himself as her ‘best guy friend’. With Adrien, he was less happy to part with the title and no amount of insistence that they were still best friends no matter what seemed to appease his jealousy. After that, their relationship grew strained and the amount of correspondence between them dropped drastically. It hurt, a lot, but when Marinette holed up in her room to mourn the loss of closeness between her and Luka, it was Adrien sitting with her offering her chocolate ice cream, a pile of chick flicks he hadn’t had a chance to watch yet, and an endless supply of tissues. For all that she grew to love Adrien, she also grew to depend on him. He was her rock; her shoulder to cry on when times were hard and the person she volleyed ideas off of when she was stumped on a design she was trying to create. In short, Adrien had become her new focal point. The center of her universe. 

The years slipped by, and Marinette eventually made up with Luka, but their friendship held a definite strain that hadn’t been there before. Still, Luka stopped complaining about her replacing him and even mentioned that he had finally started dating a girl. The first year or two of his absence, that news might have hurt Marinette, but now she was only happy for her friend. Luka deserved to be happy and if the girl he was dating, a girl named Kagami who attended a boarding school near his as a fencing prodigy, made him happy then she was content with their relationship. By the time Senior Year rolled around, Marinette was more than content with her life. She was on track towards the path she had chosen for herself.

Gabriel Agreste, who had taken quite a shine to her over the years of her hanging out with Adrien in the Agreste manor, had offered her an Internship when she graduated. On top of that, she had received early acceptance to Esmod and as long as she kept her grades up, was being offered a full scholarship. It was truly a dream come true. The first day of senior year, Marinette got out of bed early and threw on a dress she had made herself. Fancier than her usual attire, but still casual enough for school, it was a knee length dress, white with red polka dots. There was a collar similar to a dress shirt, and the waist was cinched with a belt. She paired the dress with white strappy sandals since the weather was still agreeable and her usual hand-stitched purse.

The school day itself was uneventful. The only noticeable difference was that Juleka Couffaine was absent. The girl usually had flawless attendance. Marinette attended her classes, struggling to pay attention as Adrien texted her an endless stream of Memes and goofy cat pictures with goofier captions and puns. It was their normal practice but since they had a math test at the end of the week to test their knowledge from last year, she did actually try to pay attention. When lunch rolled around, Marinette went to eat at a nearby Cafe with Adrien, Alya, and Nino. She talked to the blonde while their two friends were sickeningly adorable across the table, before returning to their afternoon classes. It was after school that things took a rather unexpected turn.

Marinette was laughing, gesturing animatedly to go along with the story she was telling Adrien as they descended the school steps. Since they hadn’t gotten much studying done in class, they were going to the bakery to hit the books to ensure they didn’t fail the first math test of the year. Alya and Nino had skipped the final period in favor of making out at her place while the twins were still in school and her mom was at work, so it was just the two of them. The roar of a motorcycle caused her to glance up, a reflex more than anything else. She was simply reacting to the sudden sound. The sight that greeted her, however, had her faltering midstep so that if it weren’t for Adrien’s catlike reflexes, she would probably have eaten cement. 

Distantly, she was aware of Adrien speaking to her, asking if she was okay, but she didn’t respond. She was busy staring hard at the figure perched atop a familiar looking black and silver motorcycle. The face was hidden by the helmet over his head, and the man’s form was unfamiliar. He was tall, obviously muscular beneath the black leather biker jacket. But the bike was familiar and she found herself taking a step in his direction, squinting as if that might allow her to see through the dark visor shielding his face from view. The figure seemed to look around briefly until seeming to zero in on her. Hands clad in fingerless leather gloves moved upward, grasping the sturdy helmet and tugging it effortlessly off his head.

He was taller than she remembered. His body was lean and muscular and he had definitely filled out in the best way possible from the last time she had seen him when he was seventeen during the one trip he had made back to France since leaving. His hair was longer, shaggier, tipped in a vibrant teal rather than the purple she remembered. His skin was darker, tanned from the years of near constant sunshine and when he flashed her a brilliant, dimpled smile she noted that the braces were long gone. But the eyes were the same. The way they crinkled at the corners and seemed to light up whenever he saw her… that was the same as when he was sixteen, and she was thirteen. He was different, but he was the same, and irrationally tears sprang to her eyes but she couldn’t help it. She hadn’t seen him in four years and she was just now realizing how much she had  _ missed _ him.

“I missed you,  _ mon petit ange _ ,” he murmured by way of greeting, and she barely heard Adrien call her name in confusion as she flew across the space separating her from her childhood best friend. Her arms went around his neck and his arms wound around her waist in a too tight embrace but it was perfect nonetheless. He smelled like sunlight and firewood and home and as he picked her up effortlessly and swung her in a circle, the dam she had been holding back broke and she  _ sobbed _ because her best friend was  _ here _ , he was  _ back _ . Luka Couffaine had come  _ home _ .

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter of my second Lukanette drabble! I don't know how many chapters this one will be yet but keep in mind these stories won't be super long. Most of them will be under 5 chapters.


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